No Phone Ceremony

Search "unplugged ceremony" on this site or Google--a lot of people do this.

A lot of people will have the officiant announce that or have a sign in the front saying it’s unplugged

I wouldn’t trust people’s judgement for how to stay out of the way of the photographer lol. I would just have your officiant or someone else make an announcement before the processional and asks people to please silence their phones and not take any photos during the ceremony

View Quoted Comment I'm not sure if you have sent out your invites yet but maybe just have like a little tagline. The ceremony will be an unplugged ceremony and maybe even have a sign that states though. But I do agree that the officiant should make an announcement before the procession even starts.

We are putting up a sign at the entrance of the ceremony saying that it will be an "Unplugged Ceremony". We will also have our officiant re-announce this, AND I put a poem in our wedding program: “Thank you for coming! We have but one plea. Please keep our ceremony camera-free. Though our I Do’s are unplugged, our reception is not. Once our vows are exchanged, you’re free to take a shot!”

This is common. Don't feel like you're being rude by asking this of your guests. Like you said, You are paying A LOT of money for your photographer! You don't want your shots ruined!

This is super common! I would just have your officiant make an announcement before the procession starts. I think signs and things like that are kind of pointless because a lot of people don’t look at them.

I'm so torn on this issue, I initially wanted an "unplugged" ceremony until one of the doctors I work with told me that their photographer lost all of their wedding photos and the only pics they had was what guests caught on their phones. His wife was literally in tears and depressed for weeks.

We will have a sign as guests walk in stating it's an unplugged ceremony and also have our officiant announce it as part of the welcome speech before the bridal party walks in. I'm going to list it on our wedding site and possibly invitations as well cause I really want to get that point across 😂

Not at all. Unplugged ceremonies are becoming more of a thing now days. We had one and I don't regret it at all and I didn't have to worry about my photos being ruined. This was our sign.

We are having an unplugged wedding, which means no phones!!

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I love this! I literally booked a venue in Vegas that doesn't allow devices, so even I don't have to be the bad guy lol

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Haha, that is so awesome!

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It was great to tell one hey I didn't know this before we booked, but totally my fault I didn't read that part lol

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LOL I would totally do that. I was actually fine with the hwole phone thing until I went to my cousins wedding which was 3 months before ours. Everyone was standing in the aisle, in the way that she couldn't even walk down it and the photographer literally got zero pictures of her because everyone was in the way. The majority of her guests were also invited to mine and as soon as we saw it happening, my husband and I looked at each other and said UNPLUGGED in the middle of her walking in almost at the same exact time lol

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That's so sad for her no pictures at all and photographers are not cheap. I'm glad you saw the what might have been jeez.

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Yes, I felt so bad for her. It was a blessing in disguise for sure. Now anytime I see a post about someone debating it, I am like do it!!! Forget someone getting mad. This is your day. Don't let someone with a phone ruin it!

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Then dance the night away and let the photographer do their job.

You can either try an unplugged ceremony sign or have your officiant make the announcement. Our officiant said he would make the announcements for us.

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Okay, there is something seriously wrong with a professional photographer who loses ALL of a client's photos. Daughter's photographer and his second shooter each carried AT least two cameras all day (he actually carries three). They switch between cameras for different shots throughout the day. All cameras' memory cards are backed up throughout the day. At the very worst, in a huge, unforeseen crisis, they might lose 30 minutes worth of images off of ONE of those cameras (e.g., if a camera completely dies and loses everything off that memory card... -- something that hasn't happened to him in 15 years as a wedding photographer). A professional photographer shouldn't have much risk for losing ALL your photos unless they are hit by a nuclear bomb or something (but, in that case, pretty much everyone at the wedding would be gone, so wedding photos probably won't be a primary concern). If a professional photographer lost all of a client's pictures, they weren't really a professional. The risk is much greater that "Aunt Martha" will get it into her head that she should step into the aisle, with her i-pad, to take "good" pictures of the bride and her dad and she actually BLOCKS the professional photographer.

When interviewing photographers put your mind at ease by asking how they back-up their photos and ensure against photo loss.

You all are so gracious. If we were not eloping I'd have a basket by the entry for all phones to be placed in. When you leave you get them back. I don't want to be "on" at my wedding!